A Light Found Within The Dark
by Light's Lady
Summary: Lumaria, the world of the keys is in trouble, and if it is destroyed there is a very real chance the all keyblades will vanish. The only hope for this world and our heroes is its princess. Can Riku and the other keyblade wielders protect her, and show her that sometimes the brightest light is the one that shines in the dark. (Takes place after dream drop distance)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters or worlds affiliated with it.**

* * *

_Light has been forever, as has the darkness. Some liken them as opposites forever at war with one another. To others they are a crucial connection; as in one cannot truly exist without the other. For without darkness how could we truly enjoy the warmth of the light, and in turn if not for the light how could one possibly know to hide in the darkness. None the less they are but two sides to the same coin. _

_One is good the other is evil. A truly narrow minded approach to a most complicated of concepts. For when one sits to consider this matter something tends to crop up in the quiets of the mind. What in all honesty is true evil and good? It is perception that is based on moral values of the individual in thought. So does it not stand to reason that the outcome of this thought would differ among the people in meditation over this notion?_

_I for one do not see the darkness or light in such a black and white manner. There are too many areas of gray and color to see things so simply. For who can truly claim that all things in the light are good and all things in shadow are bad. After all is it not the shade in the dessert that can save a person trapped in the overbearing heat the light provides. _

_To end this plainly the state of the light and darkness could be either depending on how one chooses to look at it._

_-Lady Amber Marie Knight_

A cloaked figure clutched the old note crumpled and worn by years of rereading. The rain hardly acknowledged as this figure stood over the freshly covered grave of the queen of this world; the lady who had written this time worn note. She was truly remarkable woman. One who had once given our mysterious figure hope that just because of his ties with the dark he was not necessarily evil. A hope that no longer mattered to him for he did not care about that silly conflict any longer, but none the less it did not change his mind about the respect he held for this woman. He had hoped that he might have convinced her to hear him out and join his cause, but she was too loyal to her husband and would not go against him on this matter. Yes, her death one he regretted, but it could not be helped.

As he walked away from the grave he looked to were her family was mourning her lose. Three little children caught his eye. Her children no doubt about it; all three carried on her raven hair and pale skin tone. Maybe that was not all they got from their mother.

The youngest turned in his direction; a little girl with her father's ice blue eyes in a face that looked just as her mother had at that age. Her two brothers noticed her fall behind the group that was traveling away from the grave yard. They were immediately at her side. The older boy stooped down to her level and gently touched her face. He appeared to be asking her something. From where he stood he could not make out what was being said, but the younger of the two boys suddenly turned in his direction and narrowed steel gray eyes him. The hooded figure could not help the smirk that graced his lips as he recognized the eyes of the boy's mother. The older boy picked up the little girl, and then tugged his brother's hand forcing him to follow after his two siblings.

As they left the younger boy and the little girl looked back at him; the little girl with curiosity and the boy with mistrust. He could see the older boy tighten his hold on his siblings.

"If things do not work out as planned I may just have to visit this world again. At least one of those three will have potential."

He whispered to himself as the three walked down the road and out of view. A dark portal opened up behind him. As he stepped through the portal he removed his hood revealing a young man with white hair, and strange amber eyes.

"Yes this place may very well deserve to be revisited."

With that he disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

About eleven years later

"Lady Anna Lynn Knight would like to formally request an escort from two of your Keyblade wielders, Master Yen Sid."

Riku heard a young man with shaggy raven colored hair and wearing a strange suit of armor say as he walked by the room. He stopped curious as to what this request was about.

"And why would your sister make such a request? I have received word that she has such talent with the power of light; should your father not have started training her."

The old master put a hand on his chin in thought.

"Surely your world has heard of the coming war with the darkness. It is after all your world which provides the keyblades."

The young man scoffed. "Provided would be more accurate."

"What do you mean Prince Rin?"

"Simple my father has outlawed making the keyblades. He stopped making them shortly after my mother was killed by one." The young man said with a shrug.

"This cannot be; a number of keyblades have been found and used in the past two years."

"My mother must have released these before her death; because I can assure you that none have been released since then. To answer your question about the war, yes our world knows of it's coming, but my father does not wish to be part of it." The tone of the prince's voice held nothing but irritation.

"Surely he does not think it will be that simple?"

"He knows this will not be simple. He plans on using my sister's power over light to shield our world. He has no idea how long this war will be, but is willing to trap her in that infernal devise for the duration of it."

"So I take it being a shield is not a good thing?" Riku asked as he entered the room.

"Ah yes, Prince Rin this is Master Riku, and Riku this is Rin prince of Lumaria; the world which provided the keyblades."

The prince turned around to Riku then narrowed steel gray eyes and him.

"Keyblade master, he is still a kid." Rin said with a healthy helping of doubt in his voice.

"Now Rin, this should not be all that surprising; after all you were his age when you became head mage of your father's army."

"You are correct as usual Master Yen Sid; my apologies Master Riku."

The young Prince gave Riku a formal bow; which Riku waved off.

"Please just call me Riku."

"Very well; then I must ask you to call me Rin."

"Nice to meet you Rin." The two boys shook hands then Rin turned back to Yen Sid.

"So could you please send two of your wielders to escort my sister off our planet? Ben and I both agree that she is no longer safe there."

"I'll go with him master, and I'm sure that I can get Sora to go as well."

"Get me to go where?" afore mentioned boy said as he walked into the room,

"To another world of course." Riku said happily. Knowing that Sora would be all for another adventure.

"Sure. I'm all for another adventure."

Riku laughed

"What?" Sora asked.

"You my friend are very predictable."

* * *

**Hello all and welcome to my story A Light Found Within The Dark,**

**I do hope that you enjoy this story. So please review. I am very interested in what you think of the story and the feedback will encourage me to write more. If you have a question and/or are not c****omfortable leaving a review feel free to PM me. I will do my best to get back to you. **

**I plan on having many of the characters from the game in this story, so more will be introduced as the story progresses. Though the character this story will focus on is Riku. **

**So,now that all the formalities are out of the way, I hope to see you next chapter when the adventure truly begins.**

**-Light's Lady**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters or worlds affiliated with it.**

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_Light and its deceptions; an interesting thought to consider. It is true that most illusions in life are a trick of the light. Bending and contorting it to suit ones needs as one would bend the materials to form a blade. But just because you can change the nature of the material does not change its usefulness. For in bending the materials and weaving the magic in one has made something more of it. In doing this one has increased the usefulness. The same goes for the ability to bend the light and use it make one believe it is something else. Even make someone believe that there is nothing there behind the illusion it has created. Of course the light could even use these illusions to hide itself. In other words have you considered the light that could be hidden in the darkness?_

_-Lady Amber Marie Knight_

* * *

"So where are we going Riku?"

Sora hurried after Riku as they headed down the hanger toward the gummi ship's dock.

"We are going to the world where the keyblades were formed." He said as he stopped in front of the gummi ship they would be taking.

"What you made this?"

Sora quickly turned to Rin and summoned his keyblade. This caused Rin to quickly jump back to avoid impalement.

Riku sighed and shook his head.

Sora gave Rin a sheepish smile and a bit more carefully this time moved his keyblade in Rin's direction.

Rin took the key blade from Sora and examined it.

"No, I did not make them, oh… I remember this one, the Kingdom Key." He said with a sad smile.

"What about these." Sora said excitedly.

The keyblade began to change forms quickly in Rin's hand. He tried to keep up with the rapid change of the keyblades, but even though he caught a glimpse of most of them there only a couple that he recognized.

"Uh…truth be told keyblades were never really my thing. I'm just the head mage." Rin said after the keyblades started to go through their second time around.

He handed the keyblade back to a disappointed looking Sora.

"However if you really want to talk keyblades, my sister is a good person to go to. Yeah, keyblades are defiantly her thing." He said with a quiet laugh.

"Does she know how they're made?" Riku asked as they entered the ship.

Rin shrugged.

"I don't really know. You'll have to ask her that yourself, and hopefully you'll have plenty of time to ask her anything you could ever wish to know about them."

"What do you mean by that?"

Sora asked as he turned around to look at Rin from his place at the controls. Which Riku was quick to remove him from. Sora stuck his tongue out at Riku as his seat was taken.

"Hold on."Riku said as they took off.

After the ship had taken off and Riku had set the controls to auto pilot he turned to Rin and looked at him expectantly.

"Well?" Riku prompted.

Rin looked suddenly uncomfortable, and nervously scratched at the back of his head.

"You see, Lynn may or may not know that she is going to be leaving our world."

Rin laughed awkwardly and Riku raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

"May or may not know?" Sora asked with slight amusement in his voice. He had a feeling that this trip was going to be interesting.

"Well Ben was supposed to tell her after I left, but he can be such a coward when it comes to our sister, so it is a very real possibility that she does not know."

"So why didn't you tell her?" Riku asked

Rin looked mortified at this thought.

"Are you kidding I'm worse than he is when it comes to Lynn. I think if I ever caused her to be disappointed it might actually kill me; whereas Ben would only be guilty for a few weeks. Any way Ben is the oldest, so killing our little sisters happy is all on his head." Rin fervently declared.

Sora actually laughed at the seriousness on Rin's face as he made his declaration. This trip was defiantly going to be interesting. He would have to remember to thank Riku for inviting him along.

"So…wh…ha..ha..what… happens…if ssshe… de...cides she…pft…okay..okay calm down Sora…ha-ha... Dude your face was hilarious pft…okay okay I'm good I'm calm. What if she does not want to go when we get there?" Sora said through his laughing.

Rin glared as few more giggles escaped Sora.

"That's what you two are for. If she won't go willingly then you two can pick her up and force her to leave."

Rin sighed and with groan put a hand over his eyes.

"This is the most likely outcome my sister is known to be stubborn."

"You want us to kidnap your sister."Riku deadpanned

Riku's statement sent Sora into another bout of laughter.

"Maybe?" Rin said with a sheepish shrug.

Sora's laughter turned hysterical at that.

"Look something's coming, and whatever it is it's not good. Ben and I can both feel it, and we know that if want whatever is about to happen is to have a good outcome it is crucial to get Lynn off our world."

"How is this possible? I mean isn't your world one of light?" Riku asked

Rin's face became deadly serious.

"You would be surprised by what kind of darkness hides within the light Riku."

"Actually I wouldn't." Riku said grimly.

Rin narrowed his eyes and looked at Riku for a moment. He then met Riku's eyes and nodded knowingly.

"I see." Rin said quietly.

"Does it bother you? Do you still want me to escort your sister off your world?" Riku asked.

"Why wouldn't he want a master to protect his sister? After all it is the experience you have had with the darkness; which you in a sense concurred by the way; that led you to being a master." Sora said suddenly defensive of his friend.

"Sora, I still have had ties with the darkness and it is understandable if he is uncomfortable with that." Riku said calmly.

"But…"

Rin said something quietly to himself.

"What was that?" Sora asked.

"I said that the brightest light is the one that shines despite the darkness. Riku…"

Rin was interrupted as all three boys were tossed to the ground as something collided with their ship.

"What in the name of the light was that?" Rin said as he rubbed his forehead where it had collided with Sora's.

The ship continued to be rocked as Riku struggled to his feet to look out a window to see if maybe he could spot what was causing the ship to be tossed around like a boat in a storm.

"No way!" he exclaimed

"What is it Riku?" Sora said.

As he tried to get up to look out the ship was rocked violently and both Rin and Sora ended up tossed back to the ground.

"Are we near Lumaria?" Rin asked with a groan, Sora had tried to get up again and ended up falling back on top of Rin.

"Yeah I see it." Riku said quietly.

"Do you see any red ships; those are our sentinels they might be trying to stop us." Rin asked as he rolled Sora off him.

"Yeah, but they are not the problem; they could not get close enough to stop us even if they wanted to." Riku said.

"Why?" Sora asked as he finally managed to get to his feet and stumble over to Riku.

"Oh, yeah that's not good." Sora said solemnly

"What do you see?" Rin asked from the ground having given up on the idea of standing.

"Dark ships." Riku stated.

"Lots and lots of dark ships that are aiming at us. GET DOWN."

Sora pulled Riku away from the window. Then both boys hit the deck and covered their heads, and Rin quick to follow their lead.

It was then that the ship really began to be tossed around as every dark ship attacked them. Alarms and warnings started going off like crazy. Then the boys felt gravity take a hold of their ship as it started its quick and violent descent to the world.

"We're going down!" Sora said in a mild panic.

"No! Really? I never would have guessed." Rin said in annoyance.

"Shut up and brace for impact!" Riku shouted over the noise of the alarms.

Riku and the others were tossed around the ship like they were mere toys. All though it was less than comfortable to experience a crash onto a world as the ship seemed to slow and settle Riku thought it really could have been worse.

Once he thought they had come to a stop he dared to lift his head. He could see Sora look up as well; he was facing away from the window, but Sora was facing it, and when he saw the look in his best friend's eyes he could not help but tense up. He saw Sora's hand reach out and his mouth open, but before he could move or utter a word the floor under Riku was ripped away.

"Aero" Rin called out from the ship.

As the wind hit Riku he turned his head to see himself being pushed away just before a darkside heartless could wrap its hand around him. But that was all he could process before he hit something so hard that it knocked the air out of his lungs.

He then rolled down what he assumed to be the side of steep hill he hit a root or something with enough force that he knew his shoulder had just been dislocated. As he hit it also somehow managed to flip him around, that when he finally did stop it was because his head hit a tree.

Once he stopped moving Riku looked up through dazed eyes. He tried to sit up, but immediately stopped any attempts at moving when he grew dizzy and pain shot through his entire body.

"RIKU!" he heard Rin and Sora call out his name form somewhere above him.

But all he could do was lay there as he slowly began to lose consciousness.

"Ben come on I know I heard something crash this way. The sentinels said that the ship that Rin should have been on was taken down; it might have been what we heard."

"I know Lynn, but the guards spotted a heartless not too far from here."

"That is all the more reason to hurry. What if someone was hurt in the crash?"

Riku heard the two voices come closer. He wanted to call out, but could not seem to get his mouth to cooperate. Then he heard a gasp. He felt someone kneel beside him, so he turned his head at caught a glimpse of raven colored hair, and ice blue eyes before his world turned black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters or worlds affiliated with it.**

* * *

_What lies at the heart of the worlds? I'm afraid I don't understand how this ties into our previous conversations; unless, well I suppose I do. I don't know my friend. It would be like asking what lies in the heart of an individual. Unless one was to find a way to look into the heart of a person or a world it really is impossible to know._

_-Lady Amber Marie Knight_

* * *

Riku came awake to the sound of shouting. It sounded urgent and he tried to open his eyes and focus on what was going.

"For lights sake Ben, did you really have to choose the little shield? I can't concentrate on healing him for getting hit by stray attacks."

"Excuse me Rin, but I was not expecting to get attacked. Lynn wanted to go for a walk, and I did not want to carry too much stuff with me. But if you want to complain I will be more than happy to trade places with you. I can heal him, and you can dodge attacks from a giant fist!"

Riku forced his eyes to open and take in his surroundings. He looked to his right because he felt someone messing with his shoulder. As he turned his head Rin looked up at him and gave him a relieved smile.

"Welcome back." He said happily. Then he turned to look over Riku's head. "Ben he's coming around."

Riku tilted his head back to see who Rin was talking to. At first all he could see the back of the person. He seemed to be wearing armor very similar to what Rin was wearing. Both boys had a similar hairstyle. Not very long; it stopped just past their ears, but this young man's hair was not as shaggy looking as Rin's. Both boys had the same dark hair, and when the young man turned around Riku was somewhat surprised that they did not share the same eye color as well. This man's eyes were gray, but were also just on the cusp of being blue.

Riku frowned. These were not the same eyes he remembered from before he passed out.

"Hey, how are you feeling? Do you think you can move?" He asked, and then winced as the monster in front of them landed a blow that caused his shield to drive into his shoulder.

Said shield was at least as tall and wide as the young man who was carrying it. If that was considered a small shield; Riku was curious as to what they thought a big shield was.

"Yeah I think I can move." Riku replied after doing a quick mental assessment of his body parts. Yeah he was pretty sore, but nothing hurt too badly.

"Alright. Rin help him up. As soon as we get him out of the way Lynn and Sora can finish this."

"Where is Sora?" Riku asked when he realized his friend was missing.

"Up there with Lynn." Ben said quickly as he backed up with Rin and Riku.

He then quickly gestured to the foliage to up to the left; the opposite way in which the trio was headed.

Riku looked up to see Sora and a girl with long dark hair that was pulled back into a low braid fighting with the darkside. It was true when Rin had said they were getting hit with stray attacks.

Sora and Lynn were defiantly keeping the darkside away from Riku, Rin, and Ben. They were dancing around the creature keeping it what he guessed to be the designated safe zone. From what Riku could make out in his still disoriented state the two seemed to be working well together.

Once Ben was satisfied that they were far enough away from the battle they stopped. Ben then put up a spell that would protect them from any wayward objects that might be thrown their way. Then Rin put up a spell that would stop any stray magic that might come their way. Once the barriers were up Ben dropped his shield.

"Now you two, finish it. We need to get Riku back to the palace as soon as possible." He shouted to them.

"On it." Both Lynn and Sora replied at the same time.

Lynn who had been slightly behind Sora quickly and gracefully cart wheeled over his head. She then leapt off the side of the ridge. Grabbing a sturdy branch on her way down; she flipped herself upside down and hooked her knees on the branch.

Sora had leapt off the ridge not a second after her and grabbed one of her wrist as soon as she flipped upside down. He then used the momentum of her swinging him to throw himself over the darkside and land behind it.

As the darkside turned toward Sora Lynn quickly swung herself back up to the top of the ridge. When she landed she was quick to recall her keyblade. Once her hands were free she pulled them to her chest and closed her eyes for a moment took a breath, and then her eyes flew open and she flung her hands forward. Once she made this move a wall of light flew toward the darkside.

As the wall of light hit the darkside Sora rushed forward and thrust his keyblade into it.

It was then that Riku discovered the reason for putting distance between themselves and the battle. As well as why the shields were up.

As the powers of light and darkness meet it sent out a shockwave that threw Sora back a few feet.

Riku heard a loud cracking noise, as did the other two boys behind the shield. All three boys turned their head toward the sound. What they saw horrified them. The ridge was beginning to crumble out from under Lynn's feet. She appeared to be dazed from using so much power, so when the ground beneath her fell so did she.

Sora who had been quick to recover saw this and being the closest to her ran to her aid. He caught her just as the heartless released its final burst of energy that sent everything in the close vicinity flying about, and used his body to shield the dazed girl.

As things started to clear and still from the battle the two with Riku lowered their protective shields and all three ran to the still forms of Sora and Lynn, but as they got close to the two they heard laughter from Lynn. Stunned the three stopped and listened to the two talked.

"What?" Sora asked

"I was just thinking that you make a much better shield than any one of Ben's. I didn't get hit by a thing with you shielding me, but something always manages to get past Ben. If this whole keyblade wielder thing does not work out you could have a promising career as a shield." She explained

"Well I might just have to look into that." Sora said with a laugh.

Rin turned to Ben.

"See I'm not the only one who thinks you could use some practice."

Ben glared at his brother playfully.

"That was not what she said." He replied.

"Read between the lines Big brother, and that is exactly what she said."

"Could you two stop bickering and help us out this rubble please." Lynn said sounding exasperated.

After the three boys had gotten Sora and Lynn free from the rocks Riku stumbled forward, and felt someone put their arms around him.

"Are you okay?"

Riku looked up and found those ice blue eyes he remembered from before he blacked out.

"I think you might have over done it a little having to make up the work because of my lazy brothers." She said with a soft smile.

"Hey!" he heard the annoyed voices of Rin and Ben respond to her comment.

"I think we should get him to your palace."

He heard Sora say from somewhere to his side, but when he turned his head the movement caused his head to spin and his vision to go blurry. He felt himself sway and Lynn tighten her arms around him to help support his weight.

"Hold on buddy we're going to get you some help."

Sora's voice sounded so far away now and as Riku lost consciousness all he could think about was that this was the second time today and that having the princess hold him up felt kind of nice.


End file.
